Chương 26: Chapter 25: SHIFTING EDGE

He desperately drew breath. And as the cool air flew in through his nose and settled in his lungs, filling them, he came into awareness. He was in a well-lit room. Large, square, luxuriously furnished. He was… He was sitting on a meditation cushion. Right. He blinked a few more times, running his gaze across the filled shelves outlining the walls, to the large, garish gemstone shrine-like cabinet directly in front of him.

No windows. He was in his new apartment, in the elder's wing of the palace. Similar to his old one, except with more rooms and more extravagant. And just now, he'd been… Immediately, he sent his soulsenses inwards, focusing on his soul. And there he saw it. His soul, the sphere sitting in his chest, circumscribing his rib cage and spine. The fourth- shade red sphere. Or what would have been (should have been) fourth-shade red if it hadn't been somehow tainted by something darker.

For once, though, his thoughts didn't linger long on the mystery of the color of his soul. Because he'd just broken through to fourth-step Redrealm. The memory of the breakthrough—the impossible, incomprehensible pain of the soul-flare—was already little more than an echo, though just thinking of it brought a spike of pain from his mind. It was as sore as it'd ever been, bruised something bad. No more mind-shatteringly painful activities for the time being, then. Bummer, that.

Jieyuan pushed his soulsenses even deeper, focusing on the Fatebloom Heart. It was, as he'd predicted, fourth-shade red now. Not quite fourth-shade red proper because it retained its silvery sheen, but closer to the right shade than his soul was. He wasn't sure how exactly the Heart's step had increased (he wasn't sure about anything, really, when it came to the Heart) but at least he'd been right on his bet that its step would follow his. From his connection to the Heart, Jieyuan got a distinctly PLEASED feeling.

I'm happy too, buddy. Jieyuan stood up, stretching, getting his blood flowing. He felt more energized than ever. He always did, after a breakthrough, his body still getting used to the increase in stamina. Not to mention the pure rush that came from his other augmented attributes. It was the fifteenth of Yellowlack. It was early morning, last time he'd checked, and an elders-only party would soon be heading to the Radiant Gold Palace for the opening of the Summit.

His turn (the turn of the disciples) would only come five days from now, on the twentieth, when the tournament began. Jieyuan grinned, basking in the feeling of power coursing through him. He'd broken through even earlier than he'd planned. It wasn't like he was lacking incentives, but the whole deal with the assassination plot he got caught up in had left him pushing himself even more than usual. Especially since there had been more attempts on his life.

Jieyuan's smile slipped, his enthusiasm cooling as his thoughts strayed toward recent events. It'd been five days since the first attempt, on the tenth, and there'd been two more attempts since, both through Unrecorded assassins. Neither attempt had achieved any measure of success, and he wouldn't have even known about them if Meiyao hadn't informed him.

It still wasn't known yet how the assassins kept getting inside the palace and through the security measures in place (though Meiyao had confided in him that the only explanation was that they were having inside help), but the guards they'd been assigned had, unlike the assassins, been plenty successful. All guards being Liangshibai, so Jieyuan suspected that the sovereign protector was taking Protector Wanxin's accusations seriously. Whoever wanted them dead really wanted them dead.

He had only heard rumors about the Unrecorded before, but he'd since had a few conversations about them with Meiyao and Yongyi. Though meant to be expendable, an Unrecorded required a significant investment in terms of resources, and minds that were strong enough to handle the Pains but malleable enough to be molded into the mindset of tools weren't exactly abundant. An Unrecorded was far more valuable than your average tenth-step Redsoul. I'm still not strong enough.

Jieyuan clenched his fists, staring down at his hands. He had to get stronger. If it were up to him, he'd get straight back to cultivating, working toward his next breakthrough, but his mind was still too raw from the Second Pain. He'd have to give it some rest. In the meantime… He'd just unlocked a new Redtalent, hadn't he? The fourth-step Redtalent, Spiritual Interaction. The ability to use his soulforce to interact with any entity he'd bonded, not just his chroma. Let's try it out.

Jieyuan unlatched his holder pouch from his belt and held it in front of him. Focusing his soulsenses on it, he willed it up like he usually did with his chroma, imagining it floating out of his hands. And rise it did, slowly, into the air, until it was hovering just a few inches over his hand; he had it stop there.

"Hmmm." Jieyuan frowned. Using his soulforce to control his chroma had come to him very naturally, almost effortlessly; using it on his glyph-stretch pouch, not so much. It took him a great deal of concentration just to keep it floating there. But then he recalled something he'd read: soulforce use got harder the heavier the target was in proportion to your soulforce's weight limit.

He hadn't unlocked the ability to materialize his chroma yet—that was the sixth-step Redtalent—so whenever he'd controlled his chroma so far, it'd always been in its natural, intangible state. The holder pouch was a physical thing, though, with mass and weight. Jieyuan weighed it in his hand for a moment.

It wasn't all that heavy; it might just be a third-step pouch (he was keeping inside it the tenth-step one he'd gotten from the Fusongshi core disciple he'd killed in the Fatebloom Woods) but it still had a weight reduction factor of over a dozen. From what he'd read, soulforce weight limits were the same for all cultivators of the same step; for a fourth-step Redsoul, it was roughly forty-five pounds. The pouch didn't weigh even a fifth of that, but he still had to put in effort to move it with his soulforce.

He'd also read that soulforce control could be improved through practice, though. The question, then, was if he should make time for it. Because he certainly already had plenty on his plate right now. Pursing his lips in thought, Jieyuan closed his eyes, trying to recall everything he'd read on the subject. Its mechanics. Weight … Acceleration? Jieyuan had read a comprehensive overview on each of the Redtalents shortly after joining the sect, and the mechanics had been explained in detail.

He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now, with Amyas's perspective and knowledge, he suddenly found himself viewing soulforce acceleration in a completely different new light. It didn't work like mundane acceleration; rather, there was a limit to what speed a cultivator could use their soulforce to move an object at. But as long as they could lift that object with their soulforce, regardless of weight, they could near-instantaneously accelerate it to that speed.

That speed limit was also standardized according to your step. At fourth-step, it was … Jieyuan searched his memories. S omething in the ballpark just under six hundred feet per second? It wasn't at that level of bullets from guns back on Earth—but it was still far faster than any arrow. And he was just at fourth-step right now. Considering the weight would also rise with his step? Oh, yeah, it's most definitely worth practicing, Jieyuan decided.

He recalled seeing a note about how soulforce wasn't all that useful in combat because of how much attention it required. And also because, at higher realms, all cultivators could use hastespace, effectively nullifying soulforce's speed advantage. But if Jieyuan put in the practice, and was clever with it, he could definitely put soulforce to good use. Jieyuan experimented with it some more, and though he made some progress, it wasn't much. He'd check with Meiyao and Yongyi, see if they had some tips to give him.

Surely the cultivators in their family had passed down some advice to them. That kind of knowledge was worth its weight in gold. Deciding to check with Yongyi first, Jieyuan activated his linker ring and selected Yongyi's cipher. The connection was established just moments later. You advanced, then? came Yongyi's voice without preamble. Sure did, Jieyuan said. Up for a spar? Meiyao had beaten him to fourth-step just two days ago, so he'd just evened the playing field again.

He was looking forward to a rematch (she'd soundly trounced him in their last spar), but it was Yongyi he was looking forward to fighting more. He was positive he could beat a fifth-step Yongyi now, but what about Yongyi with his power unsuppressed? A sixth-step Yongyi? Against a fourth-step Meiyao he'd lose, little doubt there, but he might just have a chance against her brother. He'd ask him about soulforce after they'd gone a few rounds. We'll do it when we get back. Get back? Jieyuan frowned. What— Wait.

You did it? Two days ago, he'd asked Yongyi if there was some way he could go out and get some shopping done. The instructions he got were that he wasn't to leave the palace (he couldn't wander around without a small escort of elders), but he had a pile of prisms he was sitting on. A pile of prisms he was determined to spend on a new weapon for the tournament. Meiyao had a tenth-step saber, Daojue had Gleaming End, and here Jieyuan was, with a third- step spear. It was about time he changed that.

He also wanted to stock up on talismans and fasting pills, just in case. His suspicions about what awaited them in the future, and the Viridian Dome's role in it, were never too far from his thoughts. He'd considered going to Meiyao about this, but she was currently at odds with her family. Yongyi, he'd reckoned, was his best bet. And clearly he'd been right on the gold. We're heading out in about an hour, Yongyi sent. My mother and Aunt Wanxin are both going, as well as some other elders.

Aunt Wanxin begged off the Summit talks, claiming her daughter was more important. Mother took a similar approach. I think Grandfather and Father were actually glad they weren't going. They aren't on the best of terms, right now. Got it. As Jieyuan well knew. Yongyi had shared with him a little of what was going on behind the scenes.

The chief elder bringing up Meiyao's engagement in front of everyone had taken everyone by surprise, and Meiyao was hardly the only one unhappy about it, even if she was the most vocal. It turns out Aunt Wanxin had been toying with the idea even before I came to her with it, Yongyi went on. The Summit is when Radiant Street is at its busiest. It's not something you want to miss. Trust me, I know. Merchant's son, remember? Radiant Street was Radiant Gold City's main chromal commercial district.

Just like the Gleaming Stone Palace, it was in the Second City, but on the opposite side of it. It was where most of the city's ateliers—workshop stores operated by unbound crafter cultivators—and pavilion stores, set up by cultivators from sect divisions, were concentrated. It also had a number of chromal trade houses and auction houses. Jieyuan had been to it a couple of times before, following his father, as the Haoyujin family helped manage some of the Radiant Gold Sect's pavilion stores.

He'd never visited it during a Radiant Gold Summit, though. Mundanes stayed well away from it while that particular event was taking place, his father included. Chromal areas were hardly safe for mundanes to begin with, and when Radiant Street was packed with cultivators, it was very easy for mundanes to just… disappear. Anyway, Jieyuan sent back. What about Meiyao? I just spoke with her. She's going. Yunzhu too. I also invited Daojue. He… refused. No surprise there.

Jieyuan could count on one hand the times he'd seen Daojue since they'd arrived at the palace, and in not one of those times they'd so much as exchanged a word. Granted, it wasn't as if Jieyuan was trying too hard. His focus these days had been mostly on Meiyao and her matters. Let me guess.

"No," and that's it? Correct, Yongyi replied. I visited him, as I didn't have his linker cipher, and he just stared at me before saying "No" and closing the door. He was your teammate, wasn't he? What is wrong with him? Heavens if I know, Jieyuan replied. In fact, do tell me if you ever find out. I'll pass, thank you. I don't think I want anything to do with him. And you're the one who'll be going to the Howling Lightning Sect with him.

He's your problem, Yongyi sent him; Jieyuan could hear the smirk in the core disciple's voice. In any case, congratulations on your breakthrough. We'll be at your door in an hour. One hour, Jieyuan sent back. Sure thing. Yongyi cut off the link. Jieyuan briefly considered his options, then sat back on the cushion and took some prisms out of his holder pouch. Now that he'd broken through, his soulprism could hold even more chroma.

He had a lot of things he could work on right now, but filling up his soulprism was at the top of that list. —∞— Walking through Radiant Gold City now that Jieyuan was a cultivator was a strange experience. To the augmented senses of a cultivator, the brightgold outlining the buildings and streets was even more vibrant, the different shades in the stones making up the tall houses on either side of him more pronounced. The smells were also clearer. Some pleasant, fresh. Some…

not so much, even if it wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been. The city had a fairly robust sewage system, maintained partly through chromal means, and entirely for the benefit of the mundanes. Though he reckoned that cultivators, with their senses, appreciated it just as much, if not more so. He was certainly grateful for it right now. The difference wasn't just the augmented senses of a cultivator, though. There was something deeper about it, something more profound.

As a mundane, he'd always had to keep his head low and keep an eye out for cultivators. Pretty much the worst thing that could happen to a mundane was catching the eye of an ill-intentioned cultivator, and though his father's status had some weight even in the chromal world by virtue of his connection to the Radiant Gold Palace, it'd only go so far. But now he was the one others eyed warily.

He could see the mundanes, keeping to the edges of the street, eyeing him and his party discreetly as they made their way down the walk. And they were in the Second City, meaning these mundanes held a status similar to that his father had had, standing at the very top of the city's mundane food chain. He couldn't say he liked the dread his very presence caused in others now (he didn't care for scaring the powerless folk like this), but he most certainly did enjoy his own lack of apprehension.

Even with the possibility of an assassination attempt, he was still much safer now in the Second City than he'd ever been as a mundane. Of course, the circle of elders surrounding him and his fellow disciples helped. Protectors Wanxin and Yuyan were at the front, leading their little party. Six other elders (all Liangshibai protectors, emerald-robed and topaz-eyed) surrounded them. They were all wearing armor, and though he and the other disciples had their weapons sheathed, the elders had theirs bared.

They walked in silence. Up ahead was Radiant Street. A tall brightgold entranceway marked its beginning, looming over the buildings on either side of it. This close to it, Jieyuan could see other cultivators wandering about past it. The ones wearing elaborate robes of gold, bright green, and dark gray were easy to spot. Sect cultivators, from the Radiant Gold Sect, the Viridian Death Cult, and the Xiyunfeng Clan.

He also recognized a few robes from some of the merchant sects operating in the city and from sects from neighboring cities. And then there were the unbound cultivators. It wasn't by their robes that he recognized them. You only needed a glance, really, to tell who was a cultivator and who wasn't. There was something about having power—true, tangible power—that translated into the way you walked, the way you carried yourself, that mundanes just couldn't hope to reproduce.

Heads turned as they made their way, glances lingering into gazes. And not just from mundanes. More than a few cultivators eyed them warily. Everyone here would know what the robes they wore meant, and their naked weapons didn't help any. As they stepped into Radiant Street proper, crossing the brightgold arc, others made way for them. Past the arc, the street opened up considerably, and buildings became taller, larger, and more spaced out.

Radiant Street stretched for over a mile, curving over in the distance, following the outline of the Second City. It was home to well over a hundred different chromal establishments. None of the Redrealm cities nearby had anything quite like it. Radiant Gold City was a chromal market hub of sorts. Both the Radiant Gold Sect and the Gleaming Stone Sect were inordinately wealthy for Redrealm sects, and they did business at the level of merchant sects.

The Gleaming Stone Sect for the Liangshibai's unusual ability to find gemstone deposits, and the Radiant Gold Sect for their literally limitless supply of brightgold. That made the city's chromal commerce stronger, drawing in more unbound cultivators. Protector Wanxin turned back to face them.

"Here we are. Anything specific you're looking for?" Jieyuan patted the spear strapped to his back.

"A new weapon for me." Meiyao shrugged. Yongyi shook his head. Yunzhu looked thoughtful, glancing down at her sheathed sword.

"Can I get a new one too?"

"Oh, gemstone, we're getting you a new one of everything," Protector Wanxin said.

"Same for you two," she said, nodding to Yongyi and Meiyao.

"Aunt Wanxin is going all out today." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Wanxin looked back to Jieyuan, pausing.

"Actually? All four of you. Heavens know I've got more money than I know what to do with. And I won't take any 'no's." Well, Jieyuan wasn't about to refuse an offer like that. He'd even expected something like this, though he hadn't been so sure he'd be included.

"Thank you." Protector Wanxin smirked.

"Think nothing of it. Now, weapons… All right. I know just the place." She headed down the street, and they followed. Jieyuan looked around as they did. He'd never walked front and center in Radiant Street like this. All the times he'd been here with his father, they'd kept to hidden side paths, avoiding drawing as much attention to themselves as they could. Yet another difference.

And as he was looking at a tall, round, pillar-like building, completely out of place with the angular, white-and-gold buildings near it (some cultivators got a bit more leeway from the Radiant Gold Sect), he caught something gray in the sky. He frowned, squinting his eyes at it; and as the gray spot sharpened into focus, he saw that it was a person, dressed in gray. He got the impression it was a woman, though she was too far away for him to tell for sure.

He couldn't see anything that the woman could be using to hang in midair like that. Meaning they could fly in their own right. An Orangesoul? His heart started beating a little faster. And as he stared at the gray-robed woman, he started feeling… something. A faint sense of discomfort. Like someone was staring back at him. Like the woman in the sky, specifically, was staring back at him.

Now, it wasn't just his own apprehension that had his heart beating faster; the Heart was racing now, and he got a very ominous feeling coming from Huaxin. And then the woman raised a hand and… waved? Or at least it looked like a wave. And again he got the feeling that it was at him.

"Jieyuan?" Jieyuan snapped a glance to the side, seeing that Meiyao was looking at him curiously and that everyone else was standing in place. That they were all looking at him—because he had stopped. He immediately looked back to the woman in gray, but she was nowhere in sight. The Heart stopped racing, and it wasn't sending him that sense of foreboding anymore. Did that mean he was safe, then?

"You saw something?" Yongyi asked, and Jieyuan saw that he was looking off in the same direction.

"Nobody else saw her?"

"Her?" Meiyao asked.

"A woman, I think. Flying." Protector Wanxin stepped closer." Without a cloudcraft, you mean?"

"Yes."

"What color robes was she wearing?" Protector Wanxin asked.

"Gray," Jieyuan said.

"Gray…" Protector Wanxin frowned.

"Not one I know, then." She stared off in the same spot he'd been staring at earlier, then shook her head.

"Well, higher-realm cultivators overfly the city sometimes. It's probably nothing." Except the woman had waved. And he was fairly sure it'd been at him. But there wasn't anything they could do with that information—the woman had to be at least at Orangerealm—and he didn't want them to risk cutting their outing short.

"Probably," he agreed. It was something, though, unless Orangesouls and above went around waving to Redsouls at random. Protector Wanxin and the other elders conferred briefly before they resumed walking. Meiyao and Yongyi both sent a few glances his way, but neither made to talk to him. There was nothing to it, he decided, except keeping an eye out and hoping that just walking around Radiant Gold City hadn't gotten him involved in yet another mess.

—∞—"And here we are," Protector Wanxin said, coming to a stop before a wide, squat building three stories tall. It was an angular construction. Blocky, in the style favored by the Radiant Gold Palace, but without a hint of brightgold (or gold, period) on it. Rather, it was white. And not the soft, understated white stone found throughout both Radiant Gold City and the Gleaming Stone Sect, but a shiny, pearly white, every inch of it polished and treated marble.

Its entrance was a large, open entranceway, with a scarlet awning over it. The facade was similarly cast in rich red patterns, and over the awning was a large stone plaque that read, in scarlet calligraphy, Radiant Light Atelier. Jieyuan knew the store, even if he hadn't been there before. It was by far the most famous atelier in Radiant Street, owned by twins who'd left the Radiant Gold Sect, going unbound. It was a place his father had stayed very much so clear of.

The owners had little love for their former sect. The atelier was near the center of Radiant Street, in one of its most prestigious areas. Directly across it, on the other side of the street, was a large, sprawling, six-story-tall behemoth of pitch-black stone, the only chromal establishment in the city with a greater reputation. On it were golden patterns in the form of stars and moons. The Mysterious Night House, the city's biggest chromal trade house.

They walked past the entranceway of the Radiant Light Atelier into a large, open hall. Although not particularly tall, it was considerably bigger than the training room back in the Gleaming Stone Palace. Spread out inside were a few different groups of cultivators walking around. Throughout the floor were several stands, in which different artifacts were on display. Similarly, there were shelves on the walls with artifacts on them. On the far back was a large stairway leading to the second floor.

Accompanying each group was a man or woman in white robes with scarlet-colored trimmings and designs. The atelier's attendants. Near the door was a group of similarly dressed men and women. One of them, a man, walked over as soon as Jieyuan and the others stepped inside, only for the man to pause, gawking, as he ran his gaze across their group, lingering a moment longer on Protector Wanxin, who had an amused look on. Behind the man, the other attendants shifted uneasily.

Looking panicked, the man turned back to the group he'd just left, just as an older woman stepped out from among them. Her robes, although also mostly white and red, seemed more elaborate than the others'. She nodded to the man who'd stepped forward earlier, and he looked terribly relieved as he made way for her before retreating to the gathered attendants.

"Friends of the Gleaming Stone Sect," the woman said, approaching them. She stopped in front of Wanxin and gave a deep bow.

"Protector Wanxin, Protector Yuyan. It is our honor to receive you."

"Yes," Protector Wanxin said, not quite dismissive but more curt than Jieyuan ever remembered her being.

"Are the twins in?" The attendant was close enough that Jieyuan could perceive her with his increased soulsenses now that he was a fourth-step. She was mundane, as he'd expected.

"I'm afraid that Masters—""Protector Wanxin!" a woman called, coming down the stairwell. She strode over to them. Protector Wanxin looked past the attendant and smiled broadly.

"Duolan! There you are!" Duolan. That was the name of one of the owners of the atelier, one of the twins. Jieyuan paid more attention to the woman as she approached. One brother and one sister. Both were inscribers, though whereas the sister specialized in artifacts, the brother specialized in talismans. After being around clan-borns so much—especially the Liangshibai and Meiyao and Daojue—it was easy to forget that not all cultivators looked so otherworldly compared to mundanes.

Duolan would've been small even for a mundane woman, standing over a foot shorter than him, with a slight frame and short, black hair. She wore white robes and a vibrant red coat. Duolan crossed the hall over to them in large strides. Arriving, she greeted Protector Yuyan and then all the remaining protectors by name in quick succession before turning back to Protector Wanxin.

"You should have called ahead of time. My brother is in his workshop." She then gave the attendant a brief nod, who stepped back but didn't make to return to the other attendants, instead taking position behind Duolan. Duolan was in the attendant's original position, close enough for Jieyuan to tell that she was a tenth-step Redsoul. If she seemed surprised by the size of their group or bothered by the elders' bared weapons, she showed no sign of it.

"No need to call him over," Protector Wanxin said.

"You'll suffice just fine. We're primarily here for armor and weapons. Though I think we'll also be picking up a few talismans." The brother was arguably the most famous of the twins. It was from him that the Radiant Light Haven and Radiant Light Blast talismans had come from.

"Splendid!" Duolan clapped her hands.

"Straight to my floor, then? Or would you rather take a look at some of our apprentices' works?" She motioned to the stands and shelves distributed throughout the hall.

"Yours," Wanxin said.

"Then up we go." Duolan clapped her hands again.

"Follow me?" She took them straight through the hall, toward the stairway. Jieyuan took the opportunity to look around, brief as it was, eyes lingering on the display cases nearest to them as they walked by. Most of them held weapons or other artifact objects, but a few featured talismans. They were all too far off for him to use his soulsenses on any of them, but he imagined they'd range from sixth-step to tenth-step Redrealm.

The second floor was much of the same, except there were fewer display cases and people around. The first floor was reserved for the works of the apprentices of the twins. The following floors, on the other hand, each belonged exclusively to one of the twins, the second floor being Duolan's. A quick look around told Jieyuan that the artifacts were grouped according to their type. Weapons of different sizes each forming little clusters, plus different groups for armor and artifact accessories.

Earrings, necklaces, bracelets.

"Please look around, and do not hesitate to call me over if you've got any questions," Duolan said.

"Also, feel free to bond and try any artifacts that catch your eye; just make sure not to break anything and to sever your bond before putting them back." Protector Wanxin cast a quick look around the floor before turning back and giving them all a brief nod.

"Spread out as you please. Yunzhu, Yongyi, let's find new swords for you two." She then walked off, both Yunzhu and Yongyi following her; two protectors also detached themselves from their group to trail after them. By Jieyuan's side, Meiyao scanned the floor before focusing on a particular spot.

"I'll be taking a look at the sabers," she said, turning to him, before heading off. Both Protector Yuyan and two more of the protectors followed her. Jieyuan, for his part, made straight for where the spears were, occupying a large section of the floor. Shadowing him were the remaining two core protectors. There were ten different stands with spears. The display stands were marble pillars that stood about half his height, fairly spaced from each other.

He could see a few other cultivators around the floor grabbing some of the weapons and giving them a few swings and thrusts. Further in the back, on the wall, were shelves with more spears lined up. Less precious ones, he imagined, even if prime artifacts all the same. They were all made of gold, silver, copper, or some alloy of them. Jieyuan didn't know much about inscribing, but he did know that metals and gemstones were the most suitable materials for making inscribed artifacts.

Out of the metals, iron, copper, silver, and gold (and their alloys, though they had poorer compatibility than pure metals) were the ones most compatible with inscripts, in that order. Steel was special because it didn't need much when it came to weapons. Its hardness, edge retention, and flexibility were already as good as it got. Copper, silver, and gold were compatible with many more inscripts, but they also needed more inscripts to alter their basic properties to give them properties similar to those of steel.

So steel was used for blank artifacts as a whole, whereas copper, silver, and gold were generally reserved for prime artifacts. And sure enough, there wasn't a single hint of steel around. The Radiant Light Atelier, as far as he knew, didn't sell blank artifacts. It was beneath them. He approached the spear closest to him. The spear was held horizontally by two metal support brackets extending from the stand, cradling its shaft.

It had a golden blade and shaft, with a smattering of rubies where the head met the body. All over its body were elegant, carved patterns that served no purpose besides aesthetic ones, as far as he knew. His soulsenses told him that it was a tenth-step Redrealm weapon, and through its spiritual song he got a sense for the many properties inscribed onto it. One, in particular, stood out, and from it, he got a sense of Destruction and Light. Beneath the spear, between the supports, was a cube of jade. A jadebook.

Reaching out, he put a hand over it and connected his chroma to it. Immediately a name appeared in his mind's eye, Scarlet Radiance, plus a list of its properties. It could be split, like most artifact spears, and came with a single spiritskill, which allowed its blade to emit the same searing light that emanated from Radiant Light Blast talismans, giving it the same destructive power. Taking his hand off the jadebook, he glanced down at the third-step spear he was carrying, sheathed.

It really was time he got an upgrade. He picked up Scarlet Radiance from the stand and held it for a moment, getting a feel for its weight. Heavy (much heavier than his steel spear), but nothing he couldn't handle with mantle-augmented strength. He gave it a thrust, then some swings. He liked the feel of it in his hands. But just a few moves later he found himself thinking back to Daojue wielding Gleaming End, and the comparison immediately soured him.

He kept at it, but soon he felt a hint of the same creeping, bitter feeling he got whenever he picked up a sword. Frowning, he set Scarlet Radiance back on its stand. It wasn't the first time he'd felt like this over spears (more and more he'd been getting those feelings from spears lately, even more so with his constant simulations against Daojue), but it'd never struck him this strongly before. He shook his head, then moved on to the next spear.

This one was also at tenth-step Redrealm and entirely golden, but a lighter shade of gold. An alloy, then. He checked its jadebook and found that it was called Heavy Feather. Like Scarlet Radiance, it had only a single spiritskill, except Heavy Feather allowed its user to manipulate its weight—increasing or decreasing it by tenfold. He bonded it, then tried it out, using its spiritskill to shift its weight as he swung it around. It took him no time at all to start getting the hang of it.

Its spiritskill interested him much more than Scarlet Radiance's. But once again, he soon started thinking of Daojue, how much better Daojue was at spear arts, and how big the gap between them still was. Scowling now, Jieyuan severed their bond—it just took a thought on his part to do so—and put Heavy Feather back. He had a similar experience with the next two spears he picked up. Enough. Jieyuan looked over to the wall, where an assortment of spears was shelved.

It wasn't that he hadn't liked the spears he'd seen so far, though. Heavy Feather, in particular, had genuinely interested him. No. The problem seemed to be with spears as a whole. It wasn't to the point he couldn't wield it (not nearly like how it was with swords) but… His gaze drifted over to the side. There was a neighboring set of shelves, featuring other types of polearms, mostly halberds and glaives. In front of it were a few stands with weapons of the same type.

Not nearly as many of them as there were spears, but still a fair collection. Maybe he could try branching out, trying other types of weapons? As he was still toying with the idea, his gaze landed on a particular weapon on display, still in the polearm section. What is that? Jieyuan walked over to the stand. It was a tenth-step Redrealm polearm, but not of a type he'd ever seen before. And he was fairly certain of that, because he reckoned he'd have remembered one with a blade on both ends.

Single-edged blades at that, with the slightest hint of a curve, like those of a glaive. In fact, it was essentially a double-bladed glaive. The entire weapon, tip to butt, was made from a pale shade of gold, the same as Heavy Feather. Made from the same alloy, he imagined. It was one whole, unbroken piece. It was also a very extravagant weapon. Decorative, even. Embedded on the flat side of both blades was a row of little gemstones, starting at the shaft and ending near the tip.

Rubies on one blade, sapphire on the other. Jieyuan circled the stand the weapon was displayed on and confirmed that its other side was just the same: the faces of the blades were also embedded with gemstones. That wasn't all. The shaft had decorative etchings resembling scales; the blades also featured a swirly, oil-like crescent pattern. It was possibly the fanciest weapon Jieyuan had ever seen. Something that'd fit more in a display box than held in a hand in combat.

But that wasn't a deal-breaker, as far as Jieyuan was concerned. Rather than its form, he was far more interested in its function. With his soulsenses, Jieyuan noticed the pair of protectors watching over him draw a little closer. Turning back, he saw Duolan striding over, looking at him. She gave the two protectors a nod as she walked past them before stopping next to him.

"A curious weapon, isn't it?" she asked. She didn't have that polite, practiced smile she'd had on earlier when she'd been talking to Wanxin. The one she wore was smaller, softer, but also more genuine. He doubted she knew who he was, though given the company he'd come in, she should be able to tell he was someone of at least some import.

"Yes," Jieyuan agreed.

"What is it?"

"I believe it's called an amphis, but I couldn't tell you for certain." Duolan traced a finger over the shaft.

"I happened to come across the designs for it in a jadebook I got from a Mysterious Night House auction. Unlike most weapons I know of, this one can't be said to have a mundane counterpart. Shifting Edge is what I named it. Or the Shifting Sisters, if you prefer." She took the weapon into her hands, murmured something—an attuning hymn, Jieyuan guessed, bonding it—and then split it. She held out in front of her both halves—which, being bladed, ended up serving as a pair of short glaives.

Similar to sabers, except with a half-length shaft instead of a hilt.

"It's got two states. There's split-state," Duolan said, swinging both blades at the same time, before snapping them back into one.

"And there's bound-state. According to the jadebook, when they're split, each half is called a splitfang; when they're bound, the complete amphis is called a boundfang. So the boundfang's Shifting Edge, while the splitfangs are the Shifting Sisters. Give it a try. I've unbonded it." Taking the weapon from her, Jieyuan just held it for a moment, feeling out its balance in bound-state, as Duolan had put it. Shifting Edge.

He shifted his grip and adopted a stance he was familiar with, but just as he was about to try a few spear moves, he realized that the blade on the other end would get in the way. Just the slightest mistake, and it would cut into him. It didn't help that it wasn't really meant for thrusts and stabs like a spear, but rather sweeping motions. Slashes, swings, hacks. It wasn't just the shape of the blade. The weight distribution strongly favored the edge side.

Some spear movements he knew (the more universal polearm moves) could still be done, but the amphis was clearly meant to be used in an entirely different way. He bonded it, then shifted his attention inward, searching for a new presence in his mind. Finding it, he searched for its spiritskills; he found two. One was very familiar and his eyes lit up, but he didn't try it out; instead, he activated the other one.

An utterly insignificant amount of chroma vanished from his soul and Shifting Edge split up, leaving him holding half of it in each hand. Split-state. Splitfangs. The Shifting Sisters.

"When they're split, I like to call that one Ruby," Duolan said, nodding to one of the Shifting Sisters, the one embedded with rubies.

"And that one, Sapphire." She gestured toward the sapphire-embedded one.

"The reasoning behind the names is obvious, I think. You're free to call them something else, of course."

"Hmmm." Jieyuan gave it a few moments, but he didn't get the bitter feeling he got from holding blades. It seemed they were distant enough from a saber not to be a problem. Satisfied, he gave the Shifting Sisters a few tentative swings, but the movements were unfamiliar, as he needed to distribute his weight and balance between the two halves. He barely had any experience with sabers given his aversion to blades as a whole, let alone with wielding two blades at the same time.

And he'd never tried his hand at the half-variant of the common polearms, either.

"You see the problem, don't you?" Duolan said, her eyes tracking his movements.

"This is the third amphis I made. I sold the first two, but as far as I know, they ended up relegated to mere decorative pieces. There are no established martial arts for it, you see, so you'd be going in blind, starting from scratch. And a weapon this complex?" If the other two amphises she'd sold in the past were anything like it, Jieyuan could sure see why others might have used them for decoration. Duolan shook her head, looking wistful.

"People already have a hard enough time mastering the sword and the spear and all the other more established weapons even with all the techniques and training methods and styles available for them." Jieyuan stopped his swinging to raise an eyebrow at Duolan.

"I mean, you're not doing a good job selling me on it." She shrugged.

"It's not good for business to let my customers buy my works thoughtlessly. At least not in the long term."

"Fair enough," Jieyuan acknowledged.

"But if it's such a difficult weapon to sell, why even bother having it out on display?"

"Because I'd like for all my artifacts to find a home," Duolan said earnestly.

"Right," Jieyuan said, nodding. He returned his attention to the Shifting Sisters, then snapped them back into bound-state, into Shifting Edge. He eyed the double-bladed glaive. The amphis. Duolan had the right of it. He reckoned that even if there were instructions for it, this wouldn't have been an easy weapon to master, be it in bound-state or split-state. It'd be a… challenge. He licked his lips, feeling a familiar warmth rise inside him. He had never been the type to shy away from a challenge.

"Its other spiritskill… It's Ephemeral Weight Shift, isn't it? Like the Heavy Feather spear." He hadn't gotten the chance to look through the jadebook in Shifting Edge's display stand—Duolan had taken over before he could—but Heavy Feather had left an impression on him. He was sure the other spiritskill he'd sensed in Shifting Edge was the same as the one it had.

"That's correct," Duolan.

"I saw you try Heavy Feather before. It's the same spiritskill, except both the Shifting Sisters have it, separately." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You are interested in it, aren't you?"

"I might be," Jieyuan admitted. He reached for Ephemeral Weight Shift; focusing on it, he willed the weight of the amphis to reduce by onefold. He felt it immediately as Shifting Edge grew considerably lighter in his hands. He kept it up for a while, tracking the expenditure of chroma. It was a constant drain on his chroma, unlike with the spiritskill that let him split or join them, but the cost was similarly insignificant. He ran a few more experiments.

Increasing their weight up and down, and to varying extents, mapping out just how chroma-efficient Ephemeral Weight Shift was. It didn't take him long to determine that whether the weight was lowered or increased didn't matter, only the extent to which it was altered. And even at the maximum, at tenfold higher or lower weight, the chroma cost wasn't that bad. But Jieyuan wasn't done yet; splitting Shifting Edge into the Shifting Sisters, he repeated all of his tests.

The expenditure, it turned out, was divided in half when they were in split-state; he suspected it was based off the weapon's weight. Heavy Feather's base weight had been lower than Shifting Edge's, and though they shared the same spiritskill, it'd cost less to alter Heavy Feather's weight, so that tracked. Doing all of this cost chroma, but his experiments were quick enough that the cost wasn't too high, and his old man had taught him to be thorough when making purchases.

The entire time, Duolan just watched him from the side, arms crossed, an almost proud look on her face. Jieyuan got the feeling Shifting Edge was a prized creation of hers, one that held a special place in her heart. Satisfied with what he'd managed to learn, Jieyuan merged the Shifting Sisters back into Shifting Edge and ran his eyes over the golden, gemstone-adorned weapon, deep in thought. He couldn't deny he was interested in the amphis.

The lack of a formal style wasn't that big a deal; Jieyuan hadn't practiced a specific spear art either, having mostly picked up bits and pieces from what his tutors had taught him and made them his own. He'd always been able to learn new weapons quickly and with little instruction. An amphis also had a very clear advantage; most people would be unfamiliar with fighting against a weapon like this.

"Hmmm." The question, then, was whether it'd be worth it to start from scratch, as Duolan had put it, even more so when he was already having a hard enough time keeping up with Meiyao and Daojue as it was. But Jieyuan knew one thing: he wouldn't stand a chance against Daojue if he stuck with the spear, and he was certain they'd be facing each other at some point in the tournament. The amphis presented a possibility; it was unfamiliar enough that it might just give him the edge he needed to beat Daojue.

It was a long shot, to be sure, but between certain defeat with a spear and possible victory with an amphis? It was no choice at all. Ruby and Sapphire, is it? He tightened his grip on the shafts of the Shifting Sisters, then looked up at Duolan, smiling.

"Is there a sheath for it? Or, rather, sheaths?"